Friday, January 30, 2015

Sanatan Fiji needs to be cleansed and rejuvenated - with a new leader

When
a limping and wounded Sanatan Sabha in Fiji needs to be rejuvenated and
strengthened: With a new President

Thakur
Ranjit Singh

Shri Sanatan Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji (Sanatan Fiji), the largest
home-grown Hindu organisation in Fiji has been in the news for all the wrong
reasons. Many Sanatanis (Hindus) have been disillusioned by the activities of
this once proud organisation, which has been a matter of shame, rather pride
for many of its followers. It needs to be “cleaned’ up and new executives
elected to bring in some semblance of respectability, reverence and pride once
it carried.

It is hoped the Easter Convention this year will make some crucial
changes, remove all deadwoods and add life to the organisation. It needs to be
fully “fumigated." The dereliction of its duties has created a vacuum and
this has been filled by a nationalist Hindu political/religious organisation
from India by some past disgruntled former members of Sanatan. If it starts
operating the way it does in India, then it will spell bad news for Hindus in
Fiji. More on this in the next article on FIJI PUNDIT

Dr Biman Prasad did not mince his words in pinpointing to the weaknesses in Sanatan Fiji. Concerned Sanatanis need to heed his caution and change Sanatan to bring back some semblance of respectability to a body that was a pride of the past generation. FIJI PUNDIT suggest a change in leadership, to be led by Ashok Balgoving as the most capable Sanatani to add credibility to Sanatan Fiji

Dr. Biman Prasad said a
mouthful when speaking about Sanatan Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji (hereafter
referred to as “Sanatan Fiji”), during its 2013 convention. Dr. Biman Chand
Prasad is a politician. He is leader of the National
Federation Party and
Shadow Minister for Finance, Planning and Statistics and Chairman of the Fijian
Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee. When he said this, he was a Professor
at University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji:

“I had the opportunity to sit
through the opening ceremony of the convention at the Shreedhar Maharaj
College, in Nausori. A school named after a great Sanatani, moral and ethical
community and religious leader and a businessman, the late Mr. Shreedhar
Maharaj. The opening ceremony had a total of approximately 300 people….In fact,
more people are usually present during individual Ramayan Mandali gatherings
around the country and in temples than the numbers present at the annual
convention…..”

Dr Prasad raised grave
concern about the caliber, or lack of it, of Sanatan Fiji’s current leadership:

“The current leadership of the
Sabha has put the whole organization to disrepute. One has to only compare
ethical and professional leadership standards shown by other religious and
cultural organizations in Fiji with what the Sanatan Dharam Pratinidhi Sabha is
able to put up. It then does not take long to understand why so many Sanatani’s
have been put off by the current leadership. ..

Dr Prasad specifically
spoke about the top position, the Presidency of Sanatan Fiji:

“… a man who is currently before the
court ….. has been elected National President. If he was a person with
principles, he should have stood aside and let one of the senior Vice
Presidents e.g. Mr. Ashok Balgovind to act as President until his court case is
resolved.”

Ashok Balgovind, (centre) who should take over the Presidency of Sanatan Fiji as its most-senior, respectable, clean and professional administrator to bring order and sense to Sanatan Fiji. Seen here with his daughter on left, Doctor Priti Balgovind, and wife on Sister Shobha Balgovind. The whole family has been of service to the community in their respective professions and personal capacity as respectable member of Sanatan Community. Sanatan Fiji needs a clean person with a mana to add credibility to it. Ashok Balgovind fulfills that role.

The whole issue boils down to the weaknesses and
dereliction at successive Sanatan Committees, which have let the room wide open
for another organisation to fill the vacuum, and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)
has taken full advantage of lapse in leadership capability of Sanatan Fiji. [Read in the next article the need for
caution with VHP in Fiji in FIJI PUNDIT - www.fijipundit.blogspot.co.nz]

Has
Sanatan been jinxed?

For some years now, Sanatan has been trying very hard to
make an impact, but as has been usual with Indo-Fijian community, the internal
bickering, a wanting leadership, a non-democratic constitution and tendency of
people to accept mediocrity and inefficiency seem to add to the problem.

The biggest issue that I see , as a former Executive of a
Sanatan Fiji Branch, is the undemocratic Constitution which passes the power of
election, and hence, decision-making to Branch Executives (read Presidents) and
top executives and influential people in the organisation. The delegates and
rank and file members have little say. That is exactly what happened when the
past national president appeared to have supported a lawyer who was under cloud
and pending court case, and bypassed a more popular, clean and conscientious
person, Ashok Balgovind, who would have added credibility, respectability and
professionalism to the organisation. I personally know this as I had worked
under him as the Secretary of Nasinu Branch over a decade ago, and we held a
very successful and houseful convention in early 2000. I am aware of Balgovind’s
professionalism, calibre and no-nonsense administration style, which is very
urgently needed rescue Sanatan Fiji from its sad affairs.

I tend to agree with Dr Biman Prasad’s solution to the
issue:

“The trustees of the organization
must act now and ask all the national officials to stand aside until an
independent investigation is carried out on all the activities of the Sabha,
its elections, its finances, processes and procedures…”

In my visit to Ba earlier
last month, I happened to meet a very senior official of Sanatan Fiji, who himself
felt powerless and ashamed with the affairs of Sanatan Fiji. He wished some
heads to roll during the coming convention in Easter, I think, in Ba.

By a copy of this blog
article to Indo-Fijian Hindus in Indo-Fijian Diaspora around the world,
concerned Sanatanis overseas are requested to add credibility and
respectability to the memories of their Girmitiyas, and put life and
respectability back into Sanatan Fiji. This can be done through their input,
affiliation with this parent organization and through financial help and other
resources whereby Sanatan can become a modern organization for coming
generation. They can help strengthen Sanatan branches in their respective
district, as they show support for their soccer teams.

Past Executives of Nasinu Branch, from left a younger Thakur Ranjit Singh (Auckland) who was Secretary of Nasinu branch for some years in 2000. Hemant Vimal Sharma (middle-in Melbourne) has been past Secretary of Nasinu and National Vice-President of Sanatan Fiji, while Ashok Balgovind (extreme right) is President of Nasinu Branch and National Vice President of Sanatan Fiji for over a decade. He now deserves to take over as President of Sanatan Fiji to clean it up. The past people with a soft-spot for Sanatan Fiji in overseas countries would be prepared to add life and respectability back to Sanatan once it comes under a credible leadership. Ashok Balgovind is one such person.

Sanatan Fiji needs a paradigm shift, to
promote service to humanity and stop all the bickering and too ritualistic and
fundamental new-found religious rituals from India that does little for the
living beings. It needs to be seen to be drifting away from Godman or Swamis parachuting
from India and need to promote the home-grown version of commonsense religion
and service to humanity. There has to be a concerted effort to empower women
and youths. There has to be lesser attention and priority to sports, especially
bickering soccer unless and until they are able to kick out the dead wood, have
a workable and democratic constitution and pass the power back to delegates,
rise profile, gain credibility and stop top officials from manipulating the procedures for their narrow interests.

Most importantly, if this
is not done, then a home-grown Sanatanis will lose power and support to an
imported Hindu-organization from India, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which has been
causing controversy within India for its strong stance on promotion of Hindutva
as compared to secularism enshrined in India and Fiji’s Constitution respectively.
Fiji has to exercise caution in giving rise to a fundamentalist nationalist Hindu
organization to be transplanted into Fiji where Hindus or Hinduism seem to have
no external danger, if we have any, they are within. This is so soon after it
has gained some semblance of stability after a fundamentalist and conservative
Methodist Church has been brought in line to stay out of politics and promote
goodwill amongst all people. Hindus in Fiji need to exercise caution. While
some of the activities of VHP are commendable in empowering youth and
leadership activities, we need to be careful of their underlying objectives
which may be in conflict with Fiji’s situation where all the other religious
and ethnic organizations are rooted in history, not transplanted from another socio-economic
and political environment.

Dr Biman Prasad summed his
concerns about Sanatan Fiji very well:

If the largest Hindu organization in
Fiji begins to put its leadership into the hands of a person who is currently
before the court, and allows it to be run by unconstitutional, unethical and
unclear means, it is unlikely toserve
its members effectively.

That is more the reason
why sensible members of the Sanatani community, both in Fiji and overseas, need
to pitch in together and sort out the reason for disgracing and humiliation of
this once respectable organization. Sanatan Fiji needed to be a fruit-bearing
tree, from the seed germinated from the tears, sweat, sufferings, sacrifices
and blood of our Girmitiyas. They should not allow a foreign tree, alien to
local environment and history, to be transplanted from overseas into a peaceful
secular Fiji where all religions co-existed peacefully for over a century.

Please help us serve and
strengthen the existing home-grown tree, rather than a foreign transplant
imposed on us and eating away the food of the home-grown one.

Please Sanatanis, wake up, and add
respectability to memories of your Girmitiya forbears, help rejuvenate and
strengthen Sanatan Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji, AND START BY SUPPORTING AND
STRENGTHENING YOUR LOCAL BRANCH IN FIJI.

[Thakur Ranjit Singh is a
former Executive of a Branch of Sanatan Sabha in Fiji, is a blogger and a media
commentator who believes in the adage: FOR EVIL TO TRIUMPH, IT ONLY TAKES GOOD
PEOPLE TO DO NOTHING.]